Mourinho's Real Madrid formula failed after stellar start

23May 2013

Betfair

After Real Madrid confirmed that they are parting company with Jose Mourinho after three seasons, Christian Crowther gives his verdict on the Portuguese' tenure...

It would be fair to say Jose Mourinho will be leaving Spain with a few more foes than friends after a tumultuous three years managing Los Blancos.

Any belated fan mail Mourinho receives before his summer exit is unlikely to arrive courtesy of Barcelona vice-president Carles Vilarrubi who welcomed the news of his departure by labelling the former Inter boss "a scourge" on Spanish football.

Dividing opinions is nothing new for the self-proclaimed Special One. However, ending a season empty-handed is, after failure to land a second Copa del Rey trophy on Friday night ensured that it became the worst season of his managerial career.

Having previously trailblazed a silverware-laden path through Europe's elite leagues, it begs the question of whether a single La Liga title and a solitary Copa del Rey can be considered a true success in three seasons at the Bernabeu?

After all, his chief remit would have been to bring back the Champions League trophy to the mighty Madrid after 11 tortuous years starved of European success. Perhaps part of the answer lies in the tone of the public response from Real Madrid's president Florentino Perez.

He said: "The club and manager agree the timing is right to bring our relationship to an end. On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Jose Mourinho for all his hard work. The team has improved in his three years and we wish him all the best."

This is hardly the glowing sentiment Mourinho would have encountered had he landed the cup with the big ears or even added a second Spanish title to the collection.

Of course, this tone may be in part due to the acrimonious breakdown in relations between Mourinho and the Spanish press but what's sure to be vexing for Perez is the fact the Portuguese appeared to have kicked down the door of Barcelona dominance in just his second season but failed to relocate the formula.

That record-breaking second season where Real clocked up a century of points looked to have finally put an end to Barca's all-conquering reign, following on from that debut Copa del Rey triumph.

However, a second successive Champions League semi-final exit ensured that even such a sweet victory over the Catalans in the league was still slightly diluted.

Fast forward to now and Mourinho is a man who has lost his dressing room. The pressure had been mounting since the very beginning of the season when his side let Barca craft an unassailable lead in La Liga, pinning all hope on Europe.

Of course, a terrible night in Dortmund put pay to that and now, in spite of two trophies, Mourinho's inability to land the big one will always leave his legacy as a failure in most Madridistas eyes.

Mourinho is the hot 1.09 favourite to return to Chelsea while his current side are are 2.76 to win their penultimate game of the La Liga season away to Real Sociedad on Sunday.